Salted Macadamia Nut and Chunky White Chocolate Cookies

All the mummies in the house - raise your hands if you phewed! a slight sigh of relief and danced a jig of joy at the beginning of the week as you sent your kids back to school again. ;-) Ditto!
Raise your hands again if you had a tiny guilty conscious after that jig! Ditto!

Why is that?

While I am a fun, responsible and maybe at times over-protective parent, I sometimes get tired of the colossal responsibility one automatically has as a parent. There are times when I get uptight at the weight this responsibility carries and begin to crumble. Where are those carefree days when I did not have to plan my meals ahead, go to the movies on the spur of the moment without having to see if the babysitter was free and potato-out on the couch all day if I wanted to? Times like these I would give anything to run away to a tiny island where no one can find me!

After two weeks of Easter break I was feeling like that by the time the weekend rolled around and was counting down the hours to Monday morning. Don't get me wrong I had a blast with Soeren! We did a lot of great things together and he spent a lot of the time outside with his friends too - but I always felt the presence of that weight. Never underestimate the few hours you are able to transfer a bit of that weight to the teachers or grandparents!

I think I totally flipped out on Thursday, when I asked Soeren to get a bottle of fruit infused water from our pantry so that we could take it with us on the picnic we were planning. When I heard a thump! followed by a loud clinker of broken glass all I could do was hang my head into the kitchen sink and count to 10! From Soeren came a meek "oops!" and then "Mum I think I have a problem here!"

I walked over to the pantry and noticed he had managed to drop two full beer bottles, glass shattered everywhere and beer flowing into the tiniest crevice! On the days when I am really cool I would have shouted "quick get the straws!" as a joke - but I was not feeling cool on this day! Instead I told him to go to his room, then I picked up the phone and dumped my frustration on Tom! Nope not cool at all!

I spent 45 minutes cleaning out the pantry that day, after which I had no enthusiasm for a picnic or anything else. But as a mummy you have to pep yourself up and stand tall in spite of it all. So when Soeren came down and said "Sorry mum, I did not mean it!" I had to take him in my arms and explain it was not his fault, it happens but he needs to pay more attention to what he does in the future. The usual pep talk - this time it was not just for him but also for me! It was too late to go on the picnic and as I had to work my way on Tom's good side again, we decided to bake cookies. You know me I like to bribe ... errr I mean charm ... with my goods!
And so we baked!

Nevertheless first day back at school was a relief. In my opinion the few hours apart gives me plenty of time to focus on other things, put down a tiny bit of that weight and re-charge my mummy-batteries again. However, even when we are apart I spend a bit of my time missing him and thinking of things we can do together when I pick him up from school. Crazy I know!

These cookies are not your usual nut and chocolate cookies. These are the type of cookies that cause an uproar with the kids and an addiction with the adults. Salted macadamia and chunky white chocolate give these cookies texture and as the cookies bake the butter begins to brown, giving the cookies a delicious browned-butter aroma. They are crispy on the outside and have a gorgeous chewy inside and one is never enough!

One of the Clients I work with and regularly do photo shoots for, once asked me why I do not have many cookie recipes/photographs on my blog/portfolio. It's true - if you browse through my Scones/Cookies category you will see that the cookie recipes are limited. It's not like we do not bake many cookies - we do - however it's usually all of the usual cookie favorites kids love everywhere. So, the regular chocolate chip cookie from cookbook x and blog y are only minutely different from each other and one will find about 356,000 hits on Google if you enter chocolate chip cookie recipe. I presume another one from me would go unnoticed. However, there are times when we experiment with our basic chocolate chip cookie recipe and come up with an extraordinary creation that has to be shared. This is one of them! These are the way we love cookies - crispy on the outside chewy on the insides, chunky and with substance. They also are perfect to bribe or charm your way right back on the good side of both your kid and partner!

I hear you Meeta.. I have 2, one of them at the notorious 3 year age who prefers doing flipping in the air, rather than walking, & they are supposed to be girls...& often i have to tell myself that it's human to lose it sometimes.

My kids did not have a recent break:-( & I am v v tired running around taking them places to do things thru the day. i could use some pampering with these cookies, my cuppa & a book under a tree.. all alone.

Meeta I come to your blog to satisfy my eyes for a good 15 minutes with the photographs and then read your post. I just love the pink background against the milk and cookies..It's just so awesome.

Yeah even I long for that break from my 4 year old son and at times let my husband take him out for an hour or two while I sit back with a book or simply relax..but like u said half of that time I think about my son only.

This cookie is really gonna be a hit with my son who is not that fond of store bought cookies

You are sooo right! Nothing like a little time away to recharge those mommy batteries. Even a tiny little break helps! These kind of cookies were my first attempt to bake cookies, that was when I first got married and it was for the hubby..they are his fav.! Gorgeous pics.

Raised my hands both times - sigh...I feel terrible too when I lose my temper and bawl my 4 year old out. She's still a baby and its me who needs to have more patience and control. but we do our best and I know that somewhere at the core our kids will always know that!

These cookies look very very interesting - the salted nuts and the white chocolate is such an interesting combination. I love putting different things together too - just posted a white chocolate muffin which had candied amla bits in it :)

Oh no not crazy at all Meeta. Parents in the hospital used to ask how I could work taking care of their kids in the hospital and then go home to my own but it was breaking from that responsibility, it was renewing even if the logic seems twisted.Love the cookies.

Have been a long time reader, but haven't commented so far. But I do enjoy your blog and your enthusiasm and live vicariously through your dessert creations. When I saw this post I had to comment for two reasons. I have a box of salted macadamia nuts I need to dress up and I saw a small piece on Wiemar - a small insert on a feature about Berlin- in the continental in-flight magazine that made me think of you.

I am going to try these cookies (wish me luck as I haven't baked anything in my life that has come out edible). Here is the piece on Wiemar, http://magazine.continental.com/200904-been-there#2

Oh Meeta, I love reading ur your stories and your recipes. I am sure your little post resonated with so many parents. And it was all good in the end coz everyone got some awesome cookies out of it ;-) You are awesome and Soeren is lucky to have a mummy like u.

Bribing with baked goods seems like a wonderful idea in my book! And these cookies look like the perfect bribe. Anyone could get over spilled milk...um, beer...with these cookies!! They look totally delicious!

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Hello, I am Meeta a freelance food photographer, stylist and writer living in the cuturally rich city of Weimar, Germany with my husband and our son, where I enjoy preparing multi-cultural home cooked meals with fresh organic ingredients. What's for lunch, Honey? is my award winning food blog where I combine my love for food with my love for photography and styling...